The Ultimate Guide to Men's Sea Salt Spray

—Eric Bandholz
•
Aug 26, 2016

The more hair changes, the more it stays the same. We've seen a shift from mousses of the 80's, to gels in the 90's, and clays and pomades of recent. The newest shift in men's hair is to get back to the natural look, but with a bit of control and style. That's where sea salt spray comes in.

Sea salt spray is not like many other styling products in that the goal is to work with the hair's natural tendencies to give a more textured version of your natural hair.

Not all sea salt sprays are created equal. Many cheap products are simply watered down versions of gel and can leave hair sticky with product build up. Higher end products do a great job of mimicking the sea water, but have forgotten one of the most important part of the ocean - the beach. Beardbrand sea salt spray has been paired with kaolinite clay to give that true grit and texture that you'd expect from spending the day at the beach.

If you are completely new to sea salt spray, you'll want to know how it works before you go off purchasing it. It will not give you rock hard hair; it will not give you high shine hair; it will not give you waxy or sticky hair; it will give you textured, matte hair that can move and is touchable. If you need a product to "freeze" in place, sea salt spray is not for you. If you want to show off your natural hair with a bit more movement, style, and texture then this is the product you are looking for.

Step 1

Start with a freshly washed head of hair. After hopping out of the shower, pat dry your hair. From there you can let your hair air dry until it is damp-dry, or you can use a blow dryer to speed up the process.

Step 2

Be sure you have thoroughly shaken the sea salt spray before application as separation between the clay and water is natural. Apply approximately 10 to 25 sprays into your hair. Work the product completely into your hair using your hands.

Step 3

Next grab your hair dryer, and preferably use one with a condenser at the end for more control. The goal with the hair dryer is to lock your hair into a style; it's not just to dry your hair. This is where the magic and techniques really come into play. You'll want to start at the root of your hair and then blow it in the direction you want the hair to come to.

For me, it's starting at the crown of my head, and drying the hair backwards in a pushed back style. For variety, I will occasionally dry from the crown to my temples to give a forward looking style. Progress from your crown to your temples and remember it's very important to angle where your hair dryer is pointed while drying. With the sides and bangs, I will blow dry in an upward fashion to give my hair the volume that I want.

As I am blow drying my hair, I am running my fingers through it so that I can feel how dry the hair is getting and making sure that the drying process is done evenly across my hair. When it comes to heat settings I start off with high or medium depending on how wet my hair is, and as the hair drys I cut down the temperature. I'll use cool blasts to lock the hair in place.

The speed of your hair dryer setting depends on the power of your hair dryer. I use the medium blow setting, as high is too intense, and move to low as I get to the refining stage.

Step 4 (optional)

After this point, the hair will be styled to preference, but I prefer a little bit more hold throughout the day. Because I have finer, thinner hair I must be careful when using additional products. This is where less is definitely more.

I will work up a very small amount (about the size of two peas) styling balm in my hands. My preferred product is Tree Ranger Styling Balm. Warm up the products in your hands until it changes from white to clear.

Work the product into the fingertips and here is a very important process; focus on working the styling clay into the roots of the hair and avoid the ends and hair shaft. If you start getting product all over the hair, you'll find that it can weigh down the hair and remove some of the volume you are going for. If you have thicker, fuller hair - this won't be a big issue.

When I'm applying the balm I won't worry about getting my hair messy, because you've already locked the hair memory into place using the sea salt spray and the blow dryer.

Step 5 (optional)

Once working the product throughout the hair, grab your blow dryer and blow it back into the final shape you are going for.

Boom! That's it and you now have awesome textured hair that will hold throughout the day. Not only that, it's touchable, moveable, and looks awesome.